"My Favorite Magician"--
At the Pink Cafe (California), dishwasher/busboy David Barker is in the break room preparing to inject himself with yet another self-made serum in the hope of ending the Hulk problem--
David: "After all these months, I'm just days away from results. Only after the last, precisely timed injection has been administered will I have any indication whether the serum has been effective."
David continues to note the time & kind of reactions to the serum, including hypertension, azotemia, nausea, anaphylaxis, elevated mood and dizziness. With that, David injects himself, and puts his gear away as his demanding boss (Earl) sends him back to collect dishes.
As David works, a sudden flash & puff of smoke reveals the whimsical Jasper Dowd--a professional magician--who immediately entertains staff & patrons by "magically" producing his own dinnerware. After his meal, Jasper discovers that he does not have money to pay his bill...so Earl sends him to the kitchen to wash dishes with David. Jasper wastes no time trying to regale Banner with tales of a worldly life--success as a magician. When Jasper breaks cups during a trick, Earl fires him--and David.
On the road to San Luis Obispo in Japser's "touring" van, the magician observes David is preoccupied with writing in his notebook--
Jasper Dowd: "Had your nose in that book for hours...formulas...equations..."
David: "I've been working on a problem for a long time...and uh..I'm close."
Jasper Dowd: "Science. It was called alchemy during the Middle Ages. Alchemy...I like that! More mysterious."
Suddenly, Jasper needs a puff from his inhaler due to asthma complications. David suggests stopping, but Jasper prefers to continue driving, determined to reach his old friend's restored vaudeville theater where he was promised a steady gig. Conveniently, Jasper is lacking an assistant, and makes a clear-as-day offer for David to become his new assistant.
David: "I don't know anything about magic!"
Jasper Dowd: "David, in you I see the mysteries of the universe! You have powers you're not even aware of. Okay, so you're no Harry Houdini, but if I can pull a rabbit out of a hat, I can pull a sorcerer out of you!"
At a pay phone, Jasper calls his long lost love Lily Beaumont, speaking as if they are set for a long awaited reunion. Unbeknownst to Japser, Lily is now romantically involved with the heavily-accented romancer Giancarlo Corleone, the man making his intention to marry her clear. ; Lily walks off, leaving the frustrated Giancarlo to crush a single rose....
Back at the Pink Cafe, Jasper's daughter--Kimberly Dowd--searches for her father. Earl gives her a good lead....
At the vaudeville theater, Jasper shows David some of his old set pieces, when he calls out to a "McGee"--freezing David in his tracks, until he turns to see Jasper's old friend Edgar McGee. All seems well until Edgar mentions that he thought Jasper would've married his former assistant Lily--the reference upsetting Jasper.
Later, Jasper familiarizes David with the various routines, with a focus on the pièce de résistance: Neptune's Torture Chamber--where Jasper will be handcuffed to the metal floor inside a water-filled, glass box....
That night, the theater is filled to capacity. Eventually, Jasper the Great--and his assistant David--take the stage, only it is David in the box. As David is submerged, Jasper suffers another asthma attack, and drops the key to the handcuffs he was supposed to feed to David. Banner panics, and this sends him to Hulk-mode.
The creature's expanding body breaks the glass; as the Hulk growls at the startled audience, Jasper is at once shocked by the sight of the creature--and his daughter in the audience. Jasper bolts to his van, and speeds away (with David's bag), leaving daughter, Edgar and the chaos caused by the Hulk behind like a distant memory. Inside, the Hulk destroys part of the stage (the audience thinks its part of the show), breaks through the theater wall, and stops in an alley--harassed by a couple of talkative, photo-seeking theater-goers.
After changing back to David, he returns to the theater to inspect the damage, but runs into Kimberly Dowd, and after some backstory on Jasper, such as his longtime feelings for Lily, going back to magic after his wife died, etc., the two head off to Beaumont Estates--the assumed destination of Jasper. Because David's serum has to be administered at specific times throughout the day, Banner worries that he will miss the dose--and probably his best chance to end the Hulk.
David: "Pardon me, do you mind telling me what time it is, please?"
Kimberly: "That's the third time you've asked in an hour--it's a quarter after."
David: "Ah. I'm sorry to keep bugging you that way, it's just that its urgent that I take my injections on schedule."
Kimberly: "Couldn't we stop at a hospital, or something and get this serum, or whatever it is?"
David: "I really wish we could, but uh, it's very rare."
Kimberly: "You know, the two of you must have been some kind of pair--two grown men hunting--scrounging desperately for their medicine!"
David: "Hm-mm!"
Kimberly: "A few months ago, we found out Jasper has coronary heart disease."
David: "Is he undergoing treatment?"
Kimberly: "Well he was...until he ran away from the convalescent home."
David: "Ran away?"
Kimberly: "Three times. I put him in when the doctors said a severe asthma attack could trigger a fatal heart attack."
Jasper arrives at Lily's estate, and attempts to rekindle any feelings she once had of the man--while her wedding is being prepped all around them. As it turns out, Giancarlo is not some foreign romantic type, but a common American swindler conning Lily every step of the way, a point Jasper tries to make--
Jasper: "The closest Giancarlo's ever been to Italy is the spaghetti joint he worked at in the Bronx!"
Bristling at the accusation, Lily sends Jasper away. The magician coldly brushes past Giancarlo--running into David & Kimberly waiting at his van. At Jasper's motel, David anxiously retrieves his bag, giving himself the next injection while Kimberly confronts her father about his health--
Kimberly: "Jasper, we are leaving in the morning."
Jasper: "I'm not going!"
Jasper has another asthma attack--
Kimberly: "Where's your inhaler?"
Jasper: "Even with doctors and nurses, its still a PRISON!"
Kimberly: "Its the best convalescent home money can buy."
Jasper: "They take away your self respect! I'm not going...I can take care of myself!"
Kimberly: "David??
David: "Sit down, Jasper--sit down immediately! Where's the inhaler?"
Jasper's protests are interrupted with gasps for air--
Jasper: "I can take care of myself....tell her, David!"
David: "No--no.Jasper, I'm afraid this is between you and your daughter. I'm sorry. Look, um...if that ride to Los Angeles is still open...I'll take it with you if its alright. i'll just check into a room here tonight."
Kimberly: "Of course. I'll be leaving about seven."
Jasper snatches David's journal as a way of keeping him around, and after cross-arguments between the three--
David: "As for you two--its seems that you're talking again, but you're not listening."
Jasper: "That's not true."
Kimberly: "You wanna talk about truth? Your magic act never headlined a show!"
Jasper: "Not here in the states..."
Kimberly: "Nowhere!"
Jasper: "Overseas...."
Kimberly: "Never!"
Jasper: "Europe?"
Kimberly: "No! Jasper, you were never a star in vaudeville.I'm sorry. From all accounts, y-you were never Jasper the Great, y-you were Jasper the mediocre! You know, I promised mother I would never say that to you. "
Jasper: "No--no, Kim. I'm glad you did...I...I never really gave your mother a chance to tell me. I was always too busy being center stage.David's right--I was always talking, when I should just shut-up and listen."
Kimberly: "Mother called them your little white lies. She said that everybody told them."
Jasper: "But I never really meant to lie to her. slight exaggeration here..a little embellishment there....well, ah...how do you find the truth after you've made it disappear so many times?"
Kimberly: "Jasper, mother always loved you. She loved you more, even after she knew the truth. Dad.."
Jasper: "If we're going in the morning, we'd better get an early start. I'm feeling a little tired."
Kimberly: "We can talk more when we get home."
Feeling defeated, Jasper makes one last feeble retort--
Jasper: "Abracadabra. That's your cue to disappear."
A moment later, Jasper receives the letter he's been waiting for (proving Giancarlo is already married), and slips away. David and Kimberly know where he's headed--Lily's wedding--but have a more pressing concern: he's left his inhaler behind.
At the wedding of Lily & Giancarlo, Jasper tries to reveal the contents of the letter to Lilly--only to be apprehended by Giancarlo's men; David and Kimberly show up, but suffer the same fate...with David dropping the inhaler Jasper so desperately needs. Giancarlo's henchmen lock David in the trunk of a car--triggering the series' fastest Hulk out. The creature's feet tear through the car's chassis, as he sends the trunk lid flying. Wasting no time, the Hulk plows through the henchmen, and hurls the frightened Giancarlo into the wedding cake, just as Jasper (in the wake of Kimberly recovering his inhaler) shows Giancarlo's marriage certificate to another woman. Not a shocker, but Lily has had enough of the con man.
An unspecified time later (at Lily's estate), David records his lack of progress with the serum--
David: "My hopes that the serum would stop the metamorphoses are gone. Even after the last of the 20 injections, the condition persists. With this latest disappointment, I must reexamine the entire concept of a cure."
Kimberly has returned home, suggesting Jasper will be staying with (or near) Lily.
Jasper: (to David) "...and what about your problem. Did you ever find the answer?"
Sadly, David can only share what he believes to be true--
David: "No, I uh...I'm beginning to think I might never find the answer to my problem."
Jasper successfully performs a trick which eluded him for 20 years, using that as a call for David to believe in the "magic" that might solve his own problem.
NOTES:
Jack McGee does not appear in this episode.
The episode begins with a heavy cure-related scene. For the second time in the series, Banner creates his own serum designed to end the Hulk curse, and he believed he was close. The script does not note whether or not this is a another version of the S-27 serum he created to effect adrenal function, as seen in "The Confession" but it is a complete dead end.
Conscientious as ever, David always bends the needle of every syringe used, to prevent anyone else from using it.
Of course, Bixby's first experience with magic was on his own series The Magician (NBC, 1973-74)--
GUEST CAST:
Ray Walston (Jasper Dowd) made himself a TV legend--along with former co-star Bill Bixby on the 60s sci-fi sitcom My Favorite Martian (CBS, 1963-66).
To Generation X audiences, he is remembered for his portrayal of the angry, judgmental Mr. Hand from Fast Times At Ridgemont High (Universal, 1982). other credits--
Bob Hastings (Earl the diner boss) beats Charlie Picerni (Harris from "The Slam") for overall career association with comic book and/or superhero productions. Starting in the 1940's Hastings was the third actor to voice Archie Andrews in the Mutual/NBC radio series which ran for a full decade--1943-53.
After Archie, Hasting moved on to superheroes through Filmation--
At the Pink Cafe (California), dishwasher/busboy David Barker is in the break room preparing to inject himself with yet another self-made serum in the hope of ending the Hulk problem--
David: "After all these months, I'm just days away from results. Only after the last, precisely timed injection has been administered will I have any indication whether the serum has been effective."
David continues to note the time & kind of reactions to the serum, including hypertension, azotemia, nausea, anaphylaxis, elevated mood and dizziness. With that, David injects himself, and puts his gear away as his demanding boss (Earl) sends him back to collect dishes.
As David works, a sudden flash & puff of smoke reveals the whimsical Jasper Dowd--a professional magician--who immediately entertains staff & patrons by "magically" producing his own dinnerware. After his meal, Jasper discovers that he does not have money to pay his bill...so Earl sends him to the kitchen to wash dishes with David. Jasper wastes no time trying to regale Banner with tales of a worldly life--success as a magician. When Jasper breaks cups during a trick, Earl fires him--and David.
On the road to San Luis Obispo in Japser's "touring" van, the magician observes David is preoccupied with writing in his notebook--
Jasper Dowd: "Had your nose in that book for hours...formulas...equations..."
David: "I've been working on a problem for a long time...and uh..I'm close."
Jasper Dowd: "Science. It was called alchemy during the Middle Ages. Alchemy...I like that! More mysterious."
Suddenly, Jasper needs a puff from his inhaler due to asthma complications. David suggests stopping, but Jasper prefers to continue driving, determined to reach his old friend's restored vaudeville theater where he was promised a steady gig. Conveniently, Jasper is lacking an assistant, and makes a clear-as-day offer for David to become his new assistant.
David: "I don't know anything about magic!"
Jasper Dowd: "David, in you I see the mysteries of the universe! You have powers you're not even aware of. Okay, so you're no Harry Houdini, but if I can pull a rabbit out of a hat, I can pull a sorcerer out of you!"
At a pay phone, Jasper calls his long lost love Lily Beaumont, speaking as if they are set for a long awaited reunion. Unbeknownst to Japser, Lily is now romantically involved with the heavily-accented romancer Giancarlo Corleone, the man making his intention to marry her clear. ; Lily walks off, leaving the frustrated Giancarlo to crush a single rose....
Back at the Pink Cafe, Jasper's daughter--Kimberly Dowd--searches for her father. Earl gives her a good lead....
At the vaudeville theater, Jasper shows David some of his old set pieces, when he calls out to a "McGee"--freezing David in his tracks, until he turns to see Jasper's old friend Edgar McGee. All seems well until Edgar mentions that he thought Jasper would've married his former assistant Lily--the reference upsetting Jasper.
Later, Jasper familiarizes David with the various routines, with a focus on the pièce de résistance: Neptune's Torture Chamber--where Jasper will be handcuffed to the metal floor inside a water-filled, glass box....
That night, the theater is filled to capacity. Eventually, Jasper the Great--and his assistant David--take the stage, only it is David in the box. As David is submerged, Jasper suffers another asthma attack, and drops the key to the handcuffs he was supposed to feed to David. Banner panics, and this sends him to Hulk-mode.
The creature's expanding body breaks the glass; as the Hulk growls at the startled audience, Jasper is at once shocked by the sight of the creature--and his daughter in the audience. Jasper bolts to his van, and speeds away (with David's bag), leaving daughter, Edgar and the chaos caused by the Hulk behind like a distant memory. Inside, the Hulk destroys part of the stage (the audience thinks its part of the show), breaks through the theater wall, and stops in an alley--harassed by a couple of talkative, photo-seeking theater-goers.
After changing back to David, he returns to the theater to inspect the damage, but runs into Kimberly Dowd, and after some backstory on Jasper, such as his longtime feelings for Lily, going back to magic after his wife died, etc., the two head off to Beaumont Estates--the assumed destination of Jasper. Because David's serum has to be administered at specific times throughout the day, Banner worries that he will miss the dose--and probably his best chance to end the Hulk.
David: "Pardon me, do you mind telling me what time it is, please?"
Kimberly: "That's the third time you've asked in an hour--it's a quarter after."
David: "Ah. I'm sorry to keep bugging you that way, it's just that its urgent that I take my injections on schedule."
Kimberly: "Couldn't we stop at a hospital, or something and get this serum, or whatever it is?"
David: "I really wish we could, but uh, it's very rare."
Kimberly: "You know, the two of you must have been some kind of pair--two grown men hunting--scrounging desperately for their medicine!"
David: "Hm-mm!"
Kimberly: "A few months ago, we found out Jasper has coronary heart disease."
David: "Is he undergoing treatment?"
Kimberly: "Well he was...until he ran away from the convalescent home."
David: "Ran away?"
Kimberly: "Three times. I put him in when the doctors said a severe asthma attack could trigger a fatal heart attack."
Jasper arrives at Lily's estate, and attempts to rekindle any feelings she once had of the man--while her wedding is being prepped all around them. As it turns out, Giancarlo is not some foreign romantic type, but a common American swindler conning Lily every step of the way, a point Jasper tries to make--
Jasper: "The closest Giancarlo's ever been to Italy is the spaghetti joint he worked at in the Bronx!"
Bristling at the accusation, Lily sends Jasper away. The magician coldly brushes past Giancarlo--running into David & Kimberly waiting at his van. At Jasper's motel, David anxiously retrieves his bag, giving himself the next injection while Kimberly confronts her father about his health--
Kimberly: "Jasper, we are leaving in the morning."
Jasper: "I'm not going!"
Jasper has another asthma attack--
Kimberly: "Where's your inhaler?"
Jasper: "Even with doctors and nurses, its still a PRISON!"
Kimberly: "Its the best convalescent home money can buy."
Jasper: "They take away your self respect! I'm not going...I can take care of myself!"
Kimberly: "David??
David: "Sit down, Jasper--sit down immediately! Where's the inhaler?"
Jasper's protests are interrupted with gasps for air--
Jasper: "I can take care of myself....tell her, David!"
David: "No--no.Jasper, I'm afraid this is between you and your daughter. I'm sorry. Look, um...if that ride to Los Angeles is still open...I'll take it with you if its alright. i'll just check into a room here tonight."
Kimberly: "Of course. I'll be leaving about seven."
Jasper snatches David's journal as a way of keeping him around, and after cross-arguments between the three--
David: "As for you two--its seems that you're talking again, but you're not listening."
Jasper: "That's not true."
Kimberly: "You wanna talk about truth? Your magic act never headlined a show!"
Jasper: "Not here in the states..."
Kimberly: "Nowhere!"
Jasper: "Overseas...."
Kimberly: "Never!"
Jasper: "Europe?"
Kimberly: "No! Jasper, you were never a star in vaudeville.I'm sorry. From all accounts, y-you were never Jasper the Great, y-you were Jasper the mediocre! You know, I promised mother I would never say that to you. "
Jasper: "No--no, Kim. I'm glad you did...I...I never really gave your mother a chance to tell me. I was always too busy being center stage.David's right--I was always talking, when I should just shut-up and listen."
Kimberly: "Mother called them your little white lies. She said that everybody told them."
Jasper: "But I never really meant to lie to her. slight exaggeration here..a little embellishment there....well, ah...how do you find the truth after you've made it disappear so many times?"
Kimberly: "Jasper, mother always loved you. She loved you more, even after she knew the truth. Dad.."
Jasper: "If we're going in the morning, we'd better get an early start. I'm feeling a little tired."
Kimberly: "We can talk more when we get home."
Feeling defeated, Jasper makes one last feeble retort--
Jasper: "Abracadabra. That's your cue to disappear."
A moment later, Jasper receives the letter he's been waiting for (proving Giancarlo is already married), and slips away. David and Kimberly know where he's headed--Lily's wedding--but have a more pressing concern: he's left his inhaler behind.
At the wedding of Lily & Giancarlo, Jasper tries to reveal the contents of the letter to Lilly--only to be apprehended by Giancarlo's men; David and Kimberly show up, but suffer the same fate...with David dropping the inhaler Jasper so desperately needs. Giancarlo's henchmen lock David in the trunk of a car--triggering the series' fastest Hulk out. The creature's feet tear through the car's chassis, as he sends the trunk lid flying. Wasting no time, the Hulk plows through the henchmen, and hurls the frightened Giancarlo into the wedding cake, just as Jasper (in the wake of Kimberly recovering his inhaler) shows Giancarlo's marriage certificate to another woman. Not a shocker, but Lily has had enough of the con man.
An unspecified time later (at Lily's estate), David records his lack of progress with the serum--
David: "My hopes that the serum would stop the metamorphoses are gone. Even after the last of the 20 injections, the condition persists. With this latest disappointment, I must reexamine the entire concept of a cure."
Kimberly has returned home, suggesting Jasper will be staying with (or near) Lily.
Jasper: (to David) "...and what about your problem. Did you ever find the answer?"
Sadly, David can only share what he believes to be true--
David: "No, I uh...I'm beginning to think I might never find the answer to my problem."
Jasper successfully performs a trick which eluded him for 20 years, using that as a call for David to believe in the "magic" that might solve his own problem.
NOTES:
Jack McGee does not appear in this episode.
The episode begins with a heavy cure-related scene. For the second time in the series, Banner creates his own serum designed to end the Hulk curse, and he believed he was close. The script does not note whether or not this is a another version of the S-27 serum he created to effect adrenal function, as seen in "The Confession" but it is a complete dead end.
Conscientious as ever, David always bends the needle of every syringe used, to prevent anyone else from using it.
Of course, Bixby's first experience with magic was on his own series The Magician (NBC, 1973-74)--
GUEST CAST:
Ray Walston (Jasper Dowd) made himself a TV legend--along with former co-star Bill Bixby on the 60s sci-fi sitcom My Favorite Martian (CBS, 1963-66).
To Generation X audiences, he is remembered for his portrayal of the angry, judgmental Mr. Hand from Fast Times At Ridgemont High (Universal, 1982). other credits--
- Suspense (NBC, 1949-54) - five episodes.
- Way Out (CBS, 1961) - "The Down Car"
- Summer Playhouse (CBS, 1964) - "Satan's Waitin' '"
- The Evil Touch (Nine Networks, 1973-74) - "Dear Beloved Monster" & "The Trial"
- The Six Million Dollar Man (ABC, 1976) - "A Bionic Christmas Carol"
- Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (NBC, 1979) - "Cosmic Whiz Kid"
- Popeye (Paramount, 1980) - as Poopdeck Pappy
- Galaxy of Terror ( United Artists, 1981)
- Otherworld (CBS, 1985) - "Rules of Attraction"
- Misfits of Science (NBC, 1985) - "Steer Crazy"
- Friday the 13th - The Series (Syndicated, 1988) - "Tales of the Undead"
- Superboy (Syndicated, 1988) "The Russian Exchange Student"
- Blood Salvage (High Five Entertainment, 1990)
- Star Trek: The Next Generation (Syndicated, 1992) - "The First Duty"
- Space Case (1992) - with a title song by The Village People.....
- The Stand (ABC, 1994) - miniseries
- Project ALF (NBC, 1996)
- Addams Family Reunion (Fox Family, 1998)
- My Favorite Martian (Buena Vista, 1999)
- Star Trek: Voyager (UPN, 1998-99) - "In the Flesh" & "The Fight"
Bob Hastings (Earl the diner boss) beats Charlie Picerni (Harris from "The Slam") for overall career association with comic book and/or superhero productions. Starting in the 1940's Hastings was the third actor to voice Archie Andrews in the Mutual/NBC radio series which ran for a full decade--1943-53.
After Archie, Hasting moved on to superheroes through Filmation--
- The Adventures of Superboy (from The New Adventures of Superman--CBS, 1966-68) --as young Clark Kent / Superboy
- The Batman/Superman Hour (CBS, 1968-69) - as young Clark Kent / Superboy
- Batman (ABC, 1967) - "Penguin Sets a Trend"
- Challenge of the Super-Friends (ABC, 1978-79) - various voices
- Batman: The Animated Series (Kids' WB, 1992-1995) - recurring as Commissioner James Gordon
- Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (WB, 1993)
- The Batman - Superman Movie: World's Finest (WB, 1997)
- Superman (WB, 1997-98)
- The New Batman Adventures (WB, 1997-99)
- Batman & Mr. Freeze: Sub Zero (WB, 1998)
- Gotham Girls (WB, 2002)
- Static Shock (WB, 2003)
- Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman (WB, 2003)
Not getting Me these days, Netflix is my only way of catching it, and I don't know if I've got it in me to binge 42 episodes in less than a month and in the middle of the Xmas season...especially if others might not be doing weekly reviews because of it. OTOH, if I did want to binge it, I've got the week between Xmas and New Year's off....
